The cynical budget game

I know it’s going to make our current health care system even more expensive, more complicated, more irrational and more socialized than it already is.

I know it’s something that needs to be repealed, delayed, defunded, shredded, stomped or killed forever by any legislative means necessary.

But if I were Ted Cruz, or anyone else who is willing to shut down the government to deny funding for Obamacare, I wouldn’t use the issue of raising the debt ceiling to get the American people engaged.

I’d use an issue that every American can relate to and should be outraged about – the failure of the United States Senate to pass a budget since 2007.

It’s hard to believe, but America hasn’t had a budget since Obama took over the White House and Harry Reid took over the Senate.

Why aren’t Republicans using this ongoing travesty as a weapon in their seemingly hopeless congressional fight to defund Obamacare?

Every American understands what a budget is. Every family has to have one. Why not the country? It’s a constitutional issue, yet no one cares.

Instead of a federal budget, what we’ve been getting under the Reid/Obama regime for five years has been a series of continuing resolutions to fund our bloated government.

Congress loves passing continuing resolutions, which don’t have their names attached to them, because that’s where they can all hide their favorite pork-barrel projects.

Meanwhile the country goes further and further into debt and no one makes a peep in D.C. Not the Democrats or the Republicans.

The big argument now is over raising the debt ceiling. The average American doesn’t care if the federal debt ceiling goes up another few hundred billion.

I don’t either. And I don’t care if the United States government goes bankrupt for a few months.

It’s a cynical game played with the people’s money and everyone, Democrats and Republicans, play it. Meanwhile, we go further and further into debt.

It’s time for their dirty game to end. It’s time for the American people – and Ted Cruz, Rand Paul and anyone else in the GOP who has the courage to raise their voices – to get outraged and start screaming at Obama, Reid and the rest of Congress to pass a budget.

They aren’t screaming, but I will: “Pass a budget, you bums. Either pass a darn budget or get the hell out of Washington.”

• Michael Reagan is the son of President Ronald Reagan and a political consultant.